12/24/07 Triticale

Triticale is a cross between wheat and rye and it can withdraw phosphorus from the soil. University of Idaho agronomist Brad Brown says a combination of fall planted triticale after summer grown silage corn can take out more than half again as much phosphorus as silage corn alone. BROWN "It's going to remove phosphorous at a faster rate than another other cropping system that we can contemplate for the irrigated Pacific Northwest." Thanks to three years of research Brown found that triticale withdrew an average 19 pounds of phosphorus per acre, compared with 37 pounds for silage corn. He also learned that increasing triticale seeding rates by 50 percent maximizes forage yield and, along with it, phosphorus removal. Some Idaho's dairy producers will be growing triticale this winter, holding their soil phosphorus to acceptable levels in the process. Brown and U of I colleague Glen Shewmaker are planting a half-dozen triticale varieties at Parma and Kimberly to compare the crops' total forage production and quality. When they surveyed triticale in southern Idaho fields, Brown found that its phosphorus concentration can differ threefold from one field to the next. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott